I finally got through the entire manual- skipped the navigation and hands-free sections since I don't use these features (yet, on hands-free). Yep, slightly easier to read than "War and Peace"- not much shorter; LOL. Not quite as enjoyable as a Tom Clancy thriller (understatement of the day).

I realize this will be rudimentary for many car afficionados in these threads, but for all the rest I hope it's helpful.

Some highlights:

Auto Select (page 119): "If you are travelling far from home and no longer receive your preset stations, you can use the Auto Select feature to find stations in the local area." The beauty of this is after you get back close to home, you hit the button again and your original settings are restored.

Yes I know, many of us will be keeping the XM radio service, and listening to DVD-A and DTS to take full advantage of the great 5.1 surround system. It's still a great feature IMO, and variety is the spice of life. It gives one an opportunity to get a flavor of one's new destination. I enjoy hearing the local news and other local programming. They play less commercials outside of the NYC area too, so "I've got that going for me"- any Caddyshack fans here?.

Speaking of the sound system: 6 presets for AM, 12 for FM and 12 for XM. 30 of one's favorites at one's quick convenience. Add 6 discs and one tape and you've customized the sounds for 3 dozen plus 1 sources. BTW, my cassette tapes have never sound so good in a car!

If anyone figures out how the 2nd paragraph on page 131- (disc -) and (disc+)- makes any sense please advise. I just don't think the feature works.

Some people have had trouble with memory settings for side mirrors and driver's seat. Some may need to read pages 93-95 and page 86 more carefully. It's a combination of storing settings on the driver's door and on the remote control.

Using the seat heater even in the low position for a long time when the engine is idling will drain the battery.

This reminds me that cetain devices left on and connected to the accesory power sockets will severely drain the battery; i.e. TV/VCR. A friend has gone through a couple of car batterys due to leaving a power draining device connected and on while the car engine was off.

Page 165: "Do not try to top off the tank" when adding fuel. "Leave some room for the fuel to expand with temperature changes".

"Screw the fuel fill cap back on until it clicks at least three times. If you do not properly tighten the cap, the Malfunction Indicator lamp may come on". Page 243: "If you have recently refueled your vehicle, the indicator coming on could be loose or missing fuel fill cap. Tightening the cap will not turn the indicator turn off immediately; it takes at least three days of normal driving".

I had a car that had the Malfunction Indicator light on a great deal- it was a total headache. Sometimes the gas attendent made a mistake, other times there was a problem with this indicator. In NJ one can't pump one's own gas- so I'm accustomed to watching the guy closely or put the cap on myself.

Page 173 has instructions on hooking the cargo nets. In the "Cargo Nets" thread, someone has loaded pics of how it's done- much better than manual instructions.

Due to tougher emission standards the car meets, there may be occasions when the vehicle won't start on the first try. This has only happened to me on 2 occasions in 5 weeks of driving. This may get worse in colder weather- every car is more difficult to start in colder weather has been my experience.

Features I haven't had in previous vehicles that I enjoy:

Performance/handling is outstanding
Side mirrors that have a defrost feature
Ability to open all windows and sun roof with remote
Full features of the sound system
hands-free cell phone through sound system
Auto Select
Homelink
XM Radio
5.1 surround (no one has this from the factory)
Memory for seats AND side mirrors
Electronic lumbar support
Fog lights in the headlights- more effective system
Multi-Information-Display; so many choices with timing features of lights and locks
Ability to lock trunk from glove box and then give valet key to an attendent
First tune-up at 105K miles

Features I've had that I'm glad are available:
Sports Shift
Valet Key
Automatically darkening rear view mirror
Trunk pass-through
Power everything
Sun Roof
Controls from steering
Auto-off headlights
6 disc changer in dash
Comfortable leather seats
Heated seats

 

Thanks for the complement on the cargo net install photos and for the refresher on the owners manual, it has been about 6 weeks since I read it.

Acura is indicating that the memory seats are an issue and are working on a correction to the problem.

 

need4spd: yes, your cargo net instructions were awesome. Do you frequent a posting board that begins with "E" and rhymes with desmond? Not sure if I'm allowed to give the name in here. Well, if you do you should post those great pics there too. More questions about cargo nets than navigaton system. LOL

 

No, unfortunately (fortunately?) I do not, feel free to post the photos there.

You should see my instructions on how to replace the fog light bulbs, that are a little lacking in the owners manual, I changed them to amber to stop people from High beaming me due to association by location.

Link to instructions:

http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...d&pagenumber=2

Maybe Acura will add them to the owners manual when they correct the overall length from 189.2 to 186.2 in the manual (can we all get a refund for a car that is 2" shorter than the owner's manual states???)